Prefab graphite nut :: 2014 Gibson SG Special [6.8 lbs]

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Here's another 120th Gibson anniversary SG to come across my bench recently.  A player picked this up with an aftermarket graphite nut pre-installed and the slots were way too high.  The previous owner must have swapped out the original nut and never adjusted the string heights over the first fret.  A quick session with a set of nut files greatly improved the action on this fella.

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New nut :: 2014 Gibson SGJ [6.9 lbs]

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Another SG in the shop for a setup.  This one is celebrating Gibson's 120th anniversary via the 12th fret inlay.  The player was having tuning issues and I was hoping to save the original nut, but the slot were far too low.  I could have filled and recut them, but that often is just a band aide and does not provide great tuning stability.  We decided to cut a fresh bone nut.  Check out the video below for the setup (minus the new nut).

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New Tonepros AVR-II setup :: 1997 Gibson SG [7.1 lbs]

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The player of this SG was having issues with the original bridge breaking strings and decided to replace it with a Tonepros AVR-II.  This new bridge came with unslotted saddles so the string spacing needed to be laid out and cut before installation.  See the video below from the daily vlog.

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Breaking strings :: 1998 Gibson SG [7.4 lbs]

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The player of this SG has a heavy right hand attack and was having issues regularly breaking strings.  When someone is having string break issues, I always ask them where they are breaking.  Near the nut?  Bridge?  This one was breaking them at the bridge.  First thing addressed was the saddle slots.  They were pretty gnarly with all kinds of junk and burrs.  Once they were dressed I moved on to the stopbar.  Originally it was tightened down flat to the body.  This was causing a significant break angle of the strings over the bridge and I raised it to allow the strings to decrease their downward force on the saddles.

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Punch my pickup :: 2001 Gibson SG [7.3 lbs]

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This pickup literally got knocked the fuck out! If you have been following me for a while you will recognize that this is the same blueish green metallic beat-to-hell-and-back SG back for more. It dropped in earlier this week for yet another fix for tonight's New Year's gig. This time the player punched in the bridge pickup at a show! He knocked it so hard that he broke 4 strings and bent the pickup's mounting tab and stripped out the screw. I've been trying to put together one big blog post with all of these repairs and every time I get ready to post it's back in the shop for something new. I've grown to love working on this beast!

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